Review of the Revel’s production of Dick Whittington from Carolyn Spittle for the Knowle Parish Magazine:
Dick Whittington Pantomime by Damian Trasler, David Lovesy and Steve Clark
26th – 28th January 2024
“The Revels do it again!!
For many January can be quite dull after the excitement of Christmas and New Year but we are lucky in Knowle because we can look forward to the Revels pantomime at the end of the month. This year it was well worth the wait with their performance of Dick Whittington.
The show was full of all those things we expect from a traditional panto – singing and dancing, the villain in the person of King Rat and his group of rats trying to takeover London, with plenty of boos from the audience, Dick’s mother with her ever changing wardrobe of outrageous clothes, the pirates who turned out to be not such baddies as we first thought and so on. All lead to a great show and I’m sure we all went home with the ‘Lambeth Walk’ ringing in our ears!!
The performance was well received by the audience who joined in enthusiastically and it appeared that the cast were having as much fun as we did. We all had an enjoyable evening and appreciated the hard work that had gone in to producing a great evenings entertainment. As always mention has to be made of those behind the scenes who ensured everything ran smoothly in support of the players.
We can now look forward to the next production ‘Out of Focus’ by Peter Gordon on the 9th – 11th of May and if you are interested in getting involved in any way you can contact Chris Adderley on 01564 775 428 or follow the Revels on Facebook.
See you all in May.”
Review of the Revel’s production of House Guest from Carolyn Spittle for the Knowle Parish Magazine:
A Thriller by Francis Durbridge – 12th to 14th October 2023
“We had a very enjoyable night out to see the latest offering from The Revels. House Guest was a thriller written by Francis Durbridge which kept us guessing until the end of the play. It involved three murders and one kidnapping which gradually unravelled as the play progressed, but we needed to pay attention to keep up with the plot.
The play was very well performed; especially one has to mention Martin Flett who successfully played two parts very convincingly – or did he!! His characters were crucial to the plot, which was played out very well by the whole cast, supported as ever by those behind the scenes.
We are so lucky to have such a talented dramatic society in the village who regularly bring us a good night out with great entertainment. We now look forward to the pantomime, Dick Whittington, which takes place from January 26th to 28th with four performances”.
If you are interested in being part of The Revels in any capacity, please contact Chris Adderley on 01564 775 428
Review of the Revel’s production of “Murdered to Death” from Carolyn Spittle for the Knowle Parish Magazine:
A Comedy Thriller by Peter Gordon – 11th to 13th May 2023
“The Revels have done it again. We had an enjoyable evening watching Murdered by Death – the latest production playing to a packed and appreciative audience in the village hall.
The play was a comedy/murder mystery with elements of an Agatha Christie – including Miss Maple to aid with detection. The plot concerned the murder of Mildred, the lady of the house, shot by a white-gloved hand through a slightly open door. There were several suspects – including the butler who seemed over joyed (and having had one too many!!) at the prospect of his inheritance.
The investigating police officer – a cross between Peter Sellers and John Cleese – bumbled his way through his inquiries, managing to shoot his sergeant twice in the process. Miss Maple of course was on hand to point him in the right direction. All was eventually resolved in an unexpected way.
It was good to see new members joining the cast and it was obvious all had worked hard to make the play so enjoyable and humorous to watch. Mention also has to made of all those who worked behind the scenes to ensure a smooth running of the performance and also those who created the impressive set.
We are so lucky to have this group in the village to entertain us. The next play will be House Guest – a thriller – on 12th – 14th of October. If you are interested in getting involved in any way you can contact Chris Adderley on 01564 775 428.”
Review of the Revel’s production of “Aladdin” from Carolyn Spittle for the Knowle Parish Magazine:
“Well, what an enjoyable night we had watching Aladdin from the Knowle Revels. All the elements of a traditional pantomime were there – a pesky parrot, bumbling police officers, an outrageous Widow Twankey with her ever changing hair colour and demands for ‘a cuppa’. The villainous Abanazar was booed heartily at every appearance and Aladdin and Wishee Washee got their girls at the end. The main characters were well supported by the singers and dancers who performed so well – especially in the light show at the beginning of Act 2.
The cast engaged with the audience, which added to the fun, and the singing challenge “If you’re happy and you know it” was joined with loud enthusiasm and actions. It was clear that everyone had worked very hard to give such an enjoyable performance and the cast seemed to enjoy themselves as much as the audience did.
The production would not have been possible without the support of those working behind the scenes. We are so lucky to have this enthusiastic group of players in the village to bring us such good entertainment. Several people have told me how much they enjoyed the show.
Well done Revels, and thank you all. We look forward to the next production – Murdered to Death – on stage May 11th to 13th. If having watched the pantomime you feel you would like to be part of this group in any capacity you can contact Chris Adderley on 01564 775 428.”
Review of the Revel’s production of “The Heiress”
13th to 15th October 2022
Review of the Revel’s production of “The Heiress” from Carolyn Spittle for the December issue of the Knowle Parish Magazine:
“The latest production from the Revels was The Heiress, a period drama based on the Henry James novel ‘Washington Square”.
It tells the story of Catherine, the only child of Dr Sloper, who has raised her alone since his wife died in childbirth. Catherine is shy and lacking in confidence, as a result of her father constantly undermining her attempts to please him.
She is courted by a young man, Morris, who wants to elope with her, but her father takes her away to get her away from him.
She refuses to believe he is after her inheritance when he promises to marry her on her return, until he fails to turn up to take her away.
Two years later she has grown in confidence and when he turns up to try and re-establish their relationship, she turns the table on him. She agrees to go away with him, sending him off to pack his bags. However, when he returns, she refuses to open the door and heads for bed, to the cheers of the audience.
The play was very enjoyable and held our interest all the way through. Excellent set and great acting. Special mention has to be made of Stephanie Harris who played Catherine’s aunt. Having lost her voice, she mimed throughout, and her words came from Chris Adderley, as prompt. Had we not been told this would not have been apparent and they both need congratulations on their performance.
We all had a good night out and now we look forward to the annual pantomime, Aladdin, – on January 27th to 29th 2023.”